“Increased durability and better heat dissipation”: Samsung’s mobile manager on the big change of Galaxy S26 design
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series has finally been fully unveiled – and I was at Galaxy Unpacked to catch the show live, before getting the S26 Ultra to review.
However, it was access to some of Samsung’s top executives in closed round table formats that provided an opportunity for the big questions to be answered.
Samsung’s Executive Vice President and Head of Smartphone Research and Development, Sunghoon Moon, was on hand to provide an overview.
Pressed on why aluminum was the choice, while it is not as strong as titanium, Moon replied that “aluminum is light and very elastic – so it tends to bend, which [would] and give less stress to the internal parts.
“Titanium versus aluminum each has its own set of pros and cons – and every year we [Samsung Mobile] measure it.
“This year we chose aluminum as it will increase durability and provide better heat dissipation which is compatible with our design at this time”.
A photo 1 of 11
Moon was referring to the new Galaxy S26 Ultra’s redesigned chamber, created in conjunction with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ‘Galaxy’ chipset in mind, to redirect heat and increase the duration of use.
Part of that comes down to the battery, and, of course, so the inevitable question of why there is no larger power cell or silicon-carbon solution for this generation was also raised – something I have asked before in the middle of 2025.
Moon’s answer here remains the same: that Samsung must strictly test its products and only when all the parameters are met will it implement such a solution.
“We are also fixing it [referring to silicon-carbon]. If we believe it will improve the customer experience, we will consider implementing it.
“We have to think about a set of complexities… the battery capacity has to be kept at least 5000mAh. [speaking on the Ultra model, specifically].”
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a particularly interesting product for other reasons, of course, it has a privacy display that is a big part of its feature set.
I am currently reviewing the handset with a publication date of early March, where I will delve into the pros and cons of that technology – in between investigating the build, the battery and all the other important aspects of what is already looking like one of the best phones of 2026.
